It’s been a long time coming. Private details of Jewish creatives on WhatsApp were leaked by an New York Times reporter to one other person. 600 Australian Jews found themselves doxxed as a result. This made a huge splash in local media and among privacy advocates. As a result, Australia is to finally upgrade the 1988 Privacy Act. Penalties of up to seven years jail may apply for doxxing.
Contrary to some reports, “surging anti-Semitism in Australia” is generally confined to the usual suspects – The noisy and vocal section of Middle Easterners and right-wing nut jobs.
These guys are “conspicuously pro-Palestinian” when it suits them. Racism and hate speech are illegal in Australia. It’s more a question of the efficacy of the laws than numbers.
This case is also a sort of template for major issues stopping doxxing. The original leak was made in the US. That’s extra-jurisdictional, which doesn’t simplify enforcement. Could American sources be extradited to Australia? Who knows?
The leak by the NYT reporter doesn’t seem to have been particularly anti-Semitic on first glance. The leak was on a person-to-person level.
More glances don’t look so good. It just so happens that the person who received this information was also mysteriously able to broadcast it worldwide with this effect. In Australia, it led to this wave of doxxing attacks.
The doxxing attacks seem to have come from groups associated with anti-Israel critics. Yet again, Middle East politics has raised its very ugly irrational head.
Presumably, they think they’re “helping” Palestine. This is classic Middle Eastern political logic at its absolute worst. It’s spreading the fire and then wondering why things go up in flames.
This is the same logic and mentality which has made Middle East peace impossible. It has effectively prevented the creation of a Palestinian state. This is “helping”? It’s not helping anyone, particularly the people being killed and maimed daily.
This doxxing attack is just part of the stupidity. It does create serious risks. It causes hostility. It targeted specific people and groups. It is a massive breach of privacy and personal security, and the new laws are quite right.
Australia’s privacy and internet-related laws have waddled along far behind the realities. I don’t know if doxxing is illegal at the national level elsewhere. It’s supposedly covered by privacy laws, but so what? These doxxing issues are basically the same as corporate database hacks.
In the US generally, doxxing is supposedly a civil matter. In California, it’s just plain illegal. Doxxing is dangerous. It’s not just about pranking people as it’s sometimes portrayed. It’s more often malicious. It can provide information to criminals, stalkers, and other potentially serious risks.
The legalities are almost endless. You could expand the frame of reference here to just about any information about anyone. What sort of information turns people into targets? “Net worth” could be one. Use of biometric tracking could be another. This is the first hint of the iceberg, not the tip.
It’s anyone’s guess whether the new laws will work. Most new laws need years to be made effective. They need established case law. They need to identify sources of doxxing information and the people who spread that information. The laws need to be real deterrents.
It’s time the world grew up and out of this madness.
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Disclaimer
The opinions expressed in this Op-Ed are those of the author. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of the Digital Journal or its members.
